Universal Studios Will Be Closed Through At Least The End Of May
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Universal Studios announced this week that it would be extending its theme park closures until at least the end of May due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The park announced this extension via a note on its websites, saying that it includes theme parks in Florida and California, along with each of its Universal CityWalks, and the resorts’ hotels.
“We know Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted many parts of your life—including your travel and vacation plans and we will be eager to welcome you back to our theme parks and destination when the time comes,” the statement read, in part. “For now, we must make the health and safety of our guests and team members our top priority and we will continue to take guidance from health agencies and government officials.”
This closure through “at least May 31” also means the cancellation of GradBash and GradVenture events for high school and middle school graduates respectively, which were supposed to be held in April and May in Universal Studios Orlando.
Universal Studios originally closed its parks on March 14 and 15 and expected to re-open by the end of March. It then extended that closure to mid-April before issuing this most-recent update. The company issued a statement to Deadline, saying that all employees would be paid in full through April 19, but then “nearly all” employees would be seeing pay cuts of 20 percent. Part-time employees will also be furloughed as of May 3.
“During this time, we will fully cover the cost of benefit plans for those team members who have them. All of these team members remain in our thoughts — and, while we don’t yet know when, we look forward to returning them to work one day,” the statement read in part.